100% FDI in pharma, agriculture will kill Indian brands: Mamata

Thu, Jun 23, 2016, 09:15 PM

Kolkata, June 23: Lashing out against the Narendra Modi government's decision to relax FDI norm in several sectors, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said 100 per cent foreign direct investment in sectors like manufacturing, agriculture and pharmaceutical will "kill Indian brands".

Replying to the debate on Governor K.N. Tripathi's address to the state assembly, she said MPs of her Trinamool Congress would raise the matter in parliament.

Asserting that her government was still opposed to FDI in such sectors, she said Indian brands have to be looked after.

"It is not that I am against jobs for people. But it's a fact that it (FDI) will kill Indian brands. 100 per cent FDI, whether it is in the pharmaceutical, agricultural or manufacturing sectors, will adversely hit Indian brands.

"We need to do promote the branding of our own products," she said.

Referring to the pharmaceutical sector, she said medicine prices, including those of the life saving ones, will shoot north if FDI was allowed.

Putting its economic liberalisation agenda on the fast track, India last Monday relaxed its foreign equity norms further, notably in defence, aviation, pharmaceuticals and retailing, with automatic approval rather than a case-based route as the preferred model.

In pharmaceuticals, both greenfield and brownfield projects could so long get 100 per cent foreign capital, but with an automatic route for the former and government route for the latter. Now, brownfield projects, too, will come under automatic route for up to 74 per cent.